Thermo-electric battery and apparatus.



PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906. G. H. COVE. THERMO ELECTRIC BATTERY AND APPARATUS.

APIjLIOATION FILED FEB,15. 1905.

lnvehtor i To all whom it may concern:

, nnirn. STA ES Arena OFFICE.

eEoaeE n. e'ovE, or ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, Brnranor ;AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, or ONE-HALF TO CHARLES MQBUNKER, j I AND ONE-HALF TO FRANK R. KIMBALL, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

.'THERMo',ELECTR!C BATTERY AND APPARATUS- Application filed Febrile ".v 15, 190?;- Serial No. 245,653-

county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and'useful Improvements in Thermo-Electnc Batteries and Apparatus, of wlnchthe following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof.

The invention relates to thermo-electric batteries, and more particularly to the composition of the various elements and their arrangement with relation to the source of heat and each other. The underlying .principles of batteries of this type are well-known in this art, and such will not, therefore, be re ferred to at length.

The object of this invention is to utilize these well-known principles in a manner to produce an external current capable of being employed advantageously in the useful arts.

A-further object is to so arrange the various elements as to permit the subjection of one end or joint ofeach pair of elements to .an intense constant, heat, while permitting or result in increased efliciency of the battery, 4 tery and its appurtenances which may be and a still further obj ect-is to provide a batreadily ap'plied to an ordinary cook-stove or heater in a manner to utilize that heat which might otherwise not be used.

- The invention consists in those novel features in the arrangement of the various elements, in the means of'joining or connecting same, and in theappurtenances employed to ticularly pointed out in the claims hereto apincrease the efficiencybf the battery, hereinafter set forth and described, and morepar- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1906." i

mestic range, showing a section of the fire} .55 pet and of my battery and its appurtenances attached thereto. Fig, '2 is a horizontal cross-section of one portion of the battery and, its appurtenances, and Fig. 3 is a view'df a', single pair of detached elements with the coupling or connection for electrically con neoting succeeding pairs of elements. f

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the several views. I In the drawings, A indicates an ordinary cook-stove or range B, the to plate thereof;

C, the fire-grate, and D the ue-pipe. The fire-box is provided with brackets E, adjoining said grate C, which are designed to carry the fire-bricks. I V In the practice ofmy invention I employ a block a, of fire-clay or similar non-combustible material ,which is non-conductive of electricity. This block a is subected. to the action of the tire contained in the fire-pot either directly or through a metallic facing to said pot, and preferably I miX'a fibrous non-combustible agent, as asbestos, with the body of said block to increase the cohesive strength thereof. ,Embedded in said block 8c a are a plurality of what may be termed negative elements" I) and positiveelements 0 arranged in pairs, oneend of eachpair of which extends within said block to a point about one-half an inch from the eX; posed face thereof and the other end of which projects from said block for from two-thirds to three-quarters of the length of the. elements beyond the rear face thereof. These elements?) and c are arranged in a pluralitytgc of parallel rows, those in each row being pref erably about one-quarter of an inch apart and the rows beingfabout one-half an inch apart. This arrangement serves to not only transmit heat to the ends or. joints to be. heated of the elements embedded in said block, but also to insulate said joints from each other, which permits the coupling of the elements in series without setting up local'action between adjoining pairs of elements. n I have found in practice thatv the best re sults are attained by making each element 1) of analloy of antimony and zinc in thelfdllowing proportions: six parts of antimony to four of zinc. v a n In joiningthe various elements?) and c of each row it has been demonstrated that considerable internalresistance will be developed on L 1 through an imperfect contact of the unlike metals of these elements and that a local action seems to be set up if said metals are soldered together, and, furthermore, owing to the effects of heat on the apparatus it has been found extremely difiicult to secure an intimate contact or junction between these elements which will be reasonably permanent. To obviate these difficulties and to provide a substantially permanent connection or junction of the various elements without resorting to solder, I employ asecond or positive element a, comprisin preferably, fiat thin sheet metal, having tie ends thereof formed upon opposite sides of a connectingstrip (1, thus providing cups or caps e f conforming to the contour of the said element 1) and disposed on opposite sides of the connecting-strip d. An element b may be either driven, shrunk, or molded in one of these cups or caps e f, thus insuring intimate contact of these parts at'the point of joinder. To guard against ossible separation of the elements at this joint through the cup or cap ef losing form, a binding-wire 9 may be used to hold said cup or cap 5 f to form'.

The positive element 0, it will be observed, forms a heated joint with one negative element 1) paired therewith and a cold joint with the next succeeding element 7), thus coupling all the elements of each row together. The element 0 of one end of each row passes to the end element 12' of the row above or below or is wired therewith, thus uniting all the rows in series.

I have found that copper, tin, and that alloy of nickel, copper, and zinc known commercially as German silver are suitable for forming the aforesaid element 0, but that by using copper and German silver alternately as positive elements connecting the negative elements I) l secure greater electrical eiliciency than by the exclusive use of any one metal as the positive element.

When the battery is divided into a number of distinct parts, as by the use of two or more lire-bricks, I electrically connect these parts, as by a conductor It, between a negative pole of one part to a heated end of a positive element of a positive pole of the other part in the same manner as l employ for the succeeding rows, properly insulating said conductor from the stove stil"'tui'e.

In applying the blocks to a stove, heater, or range the projecting jointsol' said elements 6 a while protected by said block to some extent from the direct action oi the heat are through heat conductivity and radiation lia 'ble to become so'heated as to materially impair the elliciency of the battery, one of the recognized conditions ol" a battery ol' this character being that one end of each pair of elements be mainlained at a low temperature relative to the other. To maintain a low temperature of the exposed outer joint of the elements I) c, I house them with a substantially air-tight casing or housing a, which is divided into tvyo connecting-passages, one of which receives said joints and is in direct communication with a source of cooled or chilled air, as by. an inlet-pipe j, and the other of which communicates with said firstmentioned passage and is provided with a dischargeipe k, which is connected with the flue-pipe l or other means, inducing a continuous circulation of air through the channels within said housin or casing. The ex ternal current is drawn y the terminal wires m n from the cold ends of unlike mtals of opposite poles of the battery, and second ary battery, as 0, of ordinary construction is used to accumulate the energy generated in my said batter Experiment has demonstrated that a battery of six joints will develop a current of three volts and three amperes, and that by a -multiplication of elements this external current may be increased proportionately to the number of elements and joints employed. 1 have also ascertained that the use of solder in making a joint not only results in a joint which lacks the desired permanency under heat, but that the third metal or alloy tends to set up a local action or otherwise impair the elliciency oi the battery. I have also determined that the use of the alloy in tho-negative metal and ofthe alternating positive metals, as herein described, both Increase the eiliciency of the battery. \iVhile', properly speaking, ments are neither positive or fnegative, l employ these terms as designating the general direction of the [low of current generated.

tinuous electrical circuit by means of that heat ordinarily lost through radiation, which may be stored during a number of hours in suil'n-ient quantities to maintain lowpoten tial -high-ellicienc incandescent electric lamps for a considerable period, to supply an extensive electric signaling system, and various other przwtical purposes.

it is not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details hereinbel'ore described, it being apparent that suchmay be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, what l. claim as new, and desire to have protected byliettcrs Patent, is

l. A thermo-electric battery and ap )urtenanccrr, comprising a block of incom )us tible, non-eonductive material, a plurality of pairs of elements of dissimilar metals having one end oi each joined to the other and embedded in said block the outer end of (:lh said elementbeing joined to a dissimilar adjoining element whereby a series of such the unlike ele- A battery and its appurtenances as herein described. is capable of generating a conassess tively a connecting-strip having on opposite sides at each end of andintegral therewith, a cup creep, and a dissimilar metal element. having one end thereof fitted into one of said cups or caps and a similar cup or cap of an adjoining air of elements whereby a series of such e ements is formed, binding-Wires about said cups or caps, one end of all said elements being embedded in said block, terminal wires leading from dissimilar elements block is subjected of said series, and means whereby said block is subjected to continuous heat.

3. A thermo-electric battery and ap urtenances comprising a block ofincom ustible, non-conductive material, a plurality of pairs of elements of dissimilar metals hav-' ing one end of each joined to the other and I embedded in said block, the outer end of each said element being joined to a dissimilar adjoining element whereby a series ofsuch elements is formed, a housing or casing inclosing the projecting ends" of said elements, an air-inlet to said casing or housing communicating with a source ofcold air supply,

a discharge-pipe for said casing and means circulatin air through said casin said inlet and said discharge-pipe, means w ereby said to continuous heat, and terminal wires leading from dissimilar elements of said series.

4. Athermo-electric battery and appurtenances comprising a heater, a fire-pot and a flue therefor, a block of inc0mbustible,'

metal elements connecting sai non-conductive material disposed about said fire-pot, a plurality of pairs of elements of dissimilar metals having one end of ch 'oined to the other and embedded in said lock, the other end of each said element being joined to a dissimilar adjoining element whereby a series of such elements is formed, a casing or housing comprising two connecting passages one inclosing the projecting ends of said elements, an air-inlet in this passage communicating with a source of cooled air, a

'dischargf, establishing communication between t e other passage and said flue, and terminals to two dissimilar elements of said series.

5. A thermo-electric battery and ap urtenances comprising a block of incom ustible, non-conductive material, a series of pairs of elements comprising a plurality of dissimilar metal elements, and a lurality of 5 elements successively, said connecting elements all being dissimilar to said first-mentioned elements and to the next adjoining connecting element, means whereby said block is subj ected to continuous heat and terminals leading from dissimilar elements of said series.v

6. A thermo-electric battery and ap urtenances comprising a block of incombustible, non-conductive'material, a series of pairs of elements comprising a plurality of elements formed of an alloy of antimony and zinc, and a plurality of elements connecting said antimony and zinc elements, said elements connecting said first-mentioned ele{ ments being alternately ofcopper and of an alloy of nickel, copper and zinc.

In witness whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, this 9th day of February, 1905, in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. covr Witnesses Eu SHELDON, Josnrnmn MORAN, 

